I confess. I went backcountry skiing during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Despite all the pleas from the healthcare industry and officials telling us skiers to “scale it back,” I simply could not help myself. My stress-level of the world’s situation and navigating our new reality needed an outlet. And my favorite way to blow off steam and feel normal again was by ski touring in the Wasatch Mountains. But today, one week later, I’m out. Done. The skis are going into the gear closet.
I think, like most people, the Coronavirus was something out there, not affecting daily life yet here in Utah. Two weeks ago, I attended an AIARE Recreation Avalanche Level 2 course. Myself, a friend, and two other skiers joined an instructor at the Castle Peak Yurt in the Uinta Mountains. For three days we had no cell service or contact with the outside world. During that time, there was no inkling of how bad it was getting beyond our safe, yurt-life bubble. At the end of the course, we all joked about returning to find that the world had ended. In a way, it had.
As a skier, being able to slide on snow is my world. And as soon as I got back to civilization, the news hit that all of Utah’s ski resorts had shut down indefinitely due to Covid-19. Of course I was bummed to have to miss spring skiing with its bluebird days, corn snow, and parking lot tailgating. So I, like every wayward skier with nowhere else to go, hit the skintrack instead.
Fast forward to the following Saturday. I got a pre-dawn start, parked at the White Pine trailhead in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and was glad to see only two other vehicles there. My buddy, Sean, arrived soon after. We drove separate vehicles as per social-distancing guidelines (funny since we usually are supposed to carpool into the Cottonwood Canyons).
We skinned up Red Pine, skied a lake shot, then gained the ridge to top out on Lake Peak. Taking turns, we skied the best powder run down Lake Chute into White Pine I’ve ever had. The tour was safe, with low avalanche danger (though we still dug a pit just to make sure.) Overall, I felt good about our decision-making. But then we saw what was happening on Red Baldy across the way. A multitude of skiers were skinning up then skiing down some big lines. We even witnessed a skier-triggered avalanche that took out a skin track. A group was hanging out below the runout zone. Luckily nobody was caught or hurt, it was showed that the situation was getting out of hand. So Sean and I busted out of there. Back at the trailhead, we found a mess. Cars overflowed onto the highway and people gathered together way too close. It was a party scene.
Fast forward a week and the backcountry has become worse. Over a dozen skier-triggered avalanches have been reported across the range. From Mount Superior to Chipman Peak and Mount Ogden, people are attempting high-risk lines despite new snowfall and rapidly changing weather and snow conditions. Recent reports detail avalanche burials where the victim should have died. Luckily nobody has yet. But the trend is disturbing. In a time when we should be scaling back and skiing low-consequence terrain, the opposite is happening.
Closed ski areas and cabin fever are likely the reasons for this. Skiers who have never stepped foot in the backcountry are seeking powder turns beyond the now closed resorts, despite no avalanche safety training or touring experience. According to a Salt Lake Tribune article, climbing skins have become more scarce than toilet paper, as desperate skiers are buying any touring gear they can get their hands on, even if they don’t know how to properly use it.
But it’s not just newbies that are causing overcrowding and avalanches. I’ve read some reports from very experienced and well-known skiers who have triggered or even been caught in avalanches this week. And that’s why, personally, I’m calling it off. Risking injury, death, or a rescue is absolutely inappropriate during a global pandemic. Medical personnel on the front lines are, or will be, overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients, and the last thing they need right now is to treat our dumbasses for getting hurt on avalanche terrain.
So, how should we recreate in the outdoors while still slowing the advance of the Coronavirus? Here’s a bullet list
- If you are sick, stay home.
- Keep a social distance from others (at least 6 feet).
- Avoid high-risk or remote activities (looking at you, backcountry skiers).
- Announce your presence to others.
- Stay regional (as in don’t drive to Moab, you tools).
- Avoid times and places of high use (read: popular trailheads).
- Practice good hand hygiene.
Now that Summit County and Salt Lake City have enacted shelter-in-place orders, I will from this point on only recreate from home. Trailheads are more crowded than ever, making it impossible to follow a safe 6-foot distance from people. So I won’t drive to seek outdoor enjoyment. How will I stay sane without backcountry skiing? I’ll walk the dogs, pedal my bike on the paved Parley’s Trail, or even fly a kite at the park. There are ways to ride out this pandemic, and I think it’s worth sacrificing a few weeks of skiing to be a part of the effort to “flatten the curve” of new Coronavirus patients.
Hopefully this emergency situation will end before all the snow has melted. Until then, I’ll be patient and look forward to spring backcountry skiing with its bluebird days, corn snow, and parking lot tailgating.
Hopefully we will all be healthy enough to give high-fives and share post-tour beers by then.
Well said brother.